After opening marginally (16 points) higher at 14,494, the index touched a low of 14,478, before bouncing back to higher levels. Aggressive buying in select index heavyweights saw the index rally to newer heights.

The index soared to a high of 14,663, before settling with a smart gain of 165 points at a record 14,643.

The BSE IT index rallied over 2% to 5524. The Bankex, Auto and Metal indices surged around 1.5% each to 7527, 5809 and 9426, respectively.

The market breadth was almost neutral - out of 2,726 stocks traded, 1,338 advanced, 1,349 declined and 39 were unchanged today.

Index movers & shakers

Bajaj Auto zoomed 9% (Rs 255) to Rs 3,080. Hindalco surged 4.4% to Rs 182.

Infosys soared nearly 4% (Rs 87) to Rs 2,359. Grasim flared up 3% to Rs 2,875.

ICICI Bank, Larsen & Toubro and Cipla advanced around 2.5% each to Rs 982, Rs 1,744 and Rs 256, respectively.

Hero Honda rallied 2% to Rs 733. HDFC Bank and ACC added 1.7% each to Rs 1,107 and Rs 1,063, respectively.

NTPC and Wipro were up 1% each at Rs 143 and Rs 641, respectively.

Tata Motors and ONGC slipped around 2% each to Rs 902 and Rs 892, respectivey. Gujarat Ambuja declined 1% to Rs 141.

Value & volume toppers

Debutant Akruti Nirman topped the value chart with a turnover of Rs 462 crore followed by another new listing Cambridge Tech (Rs 238 crore), Shree Ashtavinayak (Rs 134 crore), IFCI (Rs 125.70 crore) and Bajaj Auto (Rs 112.50 crore).

IFCI led the volume chart with trades of around four crore shares followed by Cambridge Tech (2.65 crore), IKF Technologies (1.15 crore), Aftek (1 crore) and Facor Alloys (84 lakh).